Fuels & Engines

February 21, 2017

McCormick's election as SAE Fellow is an exceptional professional distinction.

NREL Engineer Named SAE Fellow

NREL's Robert L. McCormick has been named a fellow of SAE International in recognition of his unique contributions to the science of fuel-engine interactions.
McCormick leads the NREL research team for advanced biofuels R&D. His many accomplishments
include determining how heating and cooling cycles affect the cold-weather performance
of biodiesel; contributing to the development and expansion of markets for ethanol;
and conducting pioneering research on the broad range of oxygenated compounds that
may be produced from biomass and used in gasoline or diesel fuels.

NREL and its national lab partners released a report spotlighting key accomplishments from the Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines (Co-Optima) initiative's first year. It is projected that this integrated approach to fuel and
engine innovation could lead to an annual $40 billion in fuel cost savings and more
than 30 billion gallons of biofuels from domestic feedstocks, as well as drive market
demand for biofuels and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

Projected Effects of Connected and Automated Vehicle Technologies on Fuel Use Vary
Widely

Multi-lab research on connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies revealed widely disparate fuel consumption estimates for the various
scenarios considered—ranging from a 200% increase in light-duty vehicle fuel use to
more than a 60% decrease. This broad range reflects uncertainties in the ways that
CAV technologies can influence vehicle efficiency and use through changes in vehicle
designs, driving habits, and travel behavior.

High-Octane Biofuel Speeds Automobile Performance Further

NREL researchers have created a catalyst that can be used to convert biomass into a hydrocarbon mixture rich in triptane,
which is a high-octane component that could be added to gasoline to prevent engine
knocking, boost the octane rating, and allow for an increase in the engine's efficiency.
The biofuel blendstock that NREL developed is 85% triptane and has an estimated research
octane number of 107. While use of this mixture as a fuel is currently better suited
for race cars (standard engines aren't designed to take advantage of such high octane),
triptane can be added to gasoline and could find use in turboprop airplanes or as
a blendstock in fuels for advanced gasoline engines.

Researchers have released updated information on all available pure-compound cetane number data through December 2016, including
previously unpublished values that are results of Co-Optima activities. Researchers
and the engine, vehicle, and fuel industries rely on these numbers to target compounds
for development of new fuels capable of delivering greater energy efficiency, cleaner emissions, and maximum engine
performance.

The Hydrogen Infrastructure Testing and Research Facility (HITRF) at NREL's Energy Systems Integration Facility integrates hydrogen production,
compression, storage, and dispensing into a unified system for fueling fuel cell electric
vehicles and tracking hydrogen infrastructure performance. A new interactive animation traces research activities from hydrogen generation to its flow through the integrated
system components.

Fuel Production from Domestic Resources Could Spur New Markets for Natural Gas Vehicles

Researchers from the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis explored the market potential of low-carbon natural gas (LCNG) produced from regionally abundant resources, such
as landfill gas and agricultural waste, for use in transportation applications in
California. Techno-economic analyses looking at resource availability, cost, and emissions
for a variety of LCNG production pathways reveal potential for LCNG in California
to be economically competitive with fossil-based fuels by 2030.